Levanta Coffee is Now Farmers First

17i6_ART_COFFEE_REPORT_Farmers First

Levanta Coffee is changing its name to better reflect its commitment to coffee farmers. The company is now Farmers First Coffee Company.

The new name, according to co-owner Matt Hohler, is intended to emphasize the company’s intention “to provide coffee farmers with the income they need to improve their quality of life.”

To that end, Farmers First Coffee is now paying 50% above market price for green coffee. That equates to prices four times higher than the traditional fair trade price, the company said.

“Although it was a difficult decision to let go of ‘Levanta,’ we’ve come to realize that we needed to be clearer in conveying our message,” co-owner Robert Durrette said in a statement. “In a world where people have so many choices and such little time we felt that we needed our potential customers to understand exactly why we are different - and we have to do that quickly. That begins with our company’s name.”

The company launched a Kickstarter pre-sale campaign during summer 2017 to raise initial funding for the new effort. More than $52,000 was raised as more than 600 supporters placed orders. Those orders were to be filled in November in conjunction was a new online store.